The ongoing adventures of a father who is finally finding the answers by dedicating himself to his family.

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

Squeezing In 9 Holes

N
has been mentioning that he'd love to go golfing at some point, and I
had mixed feelings. I'm somewhat ambivalent about golf, maybe because
my skills are deficient, but N enjoys it, and as I've mentioned, he's
getting really good at it. Two other downsides to golfing are the
cost and the time. The time is what really kills me, because you're
looking at 3 hours minimum, and that's a huge chunk of time when
you're training to be a real man.

Last
week after the market, which for the record was miserably scorching
hot, the weather took it's usual course and became cool and pleasant
for the remainder of the week. Since A was at camp, we had the
morning open to golf if we decided to do it. The only problem was
that there was a storm heading our way, so we had to get started
earlier than later, and on top of all that, we had to pick up A in
the afternoon. Another complication is that N always wants to rent a
golf cart and then wants to drive the thing, and while I think he's
perfectly capable of handling it, the course gods frown on it.
We've been busted and scolded a couple of times and it's really awkward.

I
thought initially that we would forsake the cart and just walk, thus
getting around the complications, but with the possibility of a
storm, I figured a cart might be good to have in case we got caught
in the middle of it. I made it clear, however, that I would be the
only one driving the thing. We headed over to Larkin and were hoping
it wouldn't be too crowded, but it was reasonably busy. We tend to go
slowly so it's hard when people are waiting for you. This time around
we had a group in front of us and a guy behind us. We offered to let
him pass us by, but he said he was in no hurry, so we approached it
accordingly.

It
ended up being a really fun round of golf, and I have two
observations. First, N is becoming quite the decent golfer, something
I've noticed at the driving range and saw in action on the course.
Second, golf can be fun if you've got the right mind set, and like
disc golf, you just have to approach it with a little focus and
patience. The more you get into the moment, you more you get out of it. We were actually able, for the first time, to finish all 9
holes, something we'd never done before for various reasons. We also
benefitted from some clouds to help cool things off.

After
our game, we headed home for lunch and within minutes the storm hit.
Talk about good timing. We did a little school work in the afternoon
and then went to get A. All in all a fun day, even if I didn't get as
much of the firewood done as I had hoped, or for that matter, yard
work or work on the barn. Then again, you just can't replace quality
time with your kids, can you?

Until
the next time, thanks for reading, and thanks to JD Hancock for the pic.